In all Fairness!

I have always believed Indians are racist. We accuse the west of racism, apartheid and similar racial and colour discriminations. But isn’t that true of Indians as well? Fair is beautiful? Fair and lovely? Even the tall dark and handsome notion implies tall, tan and handsome.

It’s a shallow world and we Indians are the best at it. We keep pointing fingers at everyone else; while our cosmetic companies tell us we are useless if we are not fair and lovely/handsome. Even our beauty product ads show that out in the open and our public is numb to its repulsiveness. The ad I am talking about is the one where the fair and the lovely lawyer sues some company and she gives some shit funda about how they are corrupting society with this tactic. Talk about hypocrisy.

In a recent news article I read that Fair and Lovely India is sponsoring a Nepalese Taekwondo sportswoman, Sangina Vaidya. The article itself is not recent, but it is just me that has read it in such a long time. What stopped them from sponsoring Karnam Malleshwari, Kunjarani Devi, Anju Bobby George, Anjali Bhagwat, Mamta Kharab…? You get the point! Well, none of them are gorgeous looking. They are all just extremely hard-working and dedicated to their sports and professions but those aren’t qualities Indians like to associate with.

We prefer being known for our gorgeous women, Ash’s and Sen’s and our doctored beauties than for our hardworking athletes. That is why talentless bitches like sania mirza whose claim to fame is losing in the third round of a grand slam, rake in the big bucks and those who prove themselves constantly walk around with a “begging bowl”. India is a land that celebrates mediocrity and we pat ourselves on the back for our lack of achievements.

A beauty pageant contestant may owe her success to a fairness cream, but
can the same be said of an Olympic athlete? That’s what will happen if Sangina
Vaidya, the first Nepalese athlete to participate in the Olympics officially,
wins a medal in Athens next month.

Fair and Lovely, Indian corporate house Hindustan Lever’s fairness cream, is promoting Nepalese taekwondo diva Sangina, a two-time gold medallist at the South Asian Federation Games.

Along with five more corporate houses, Nepal Lever, the group’s joint venture in Nepal, is co-sponsoring the 29-year-old.

Together, the six corporate houses are providing 85 percent of Sangina’s expenses like visa fees, airfares, medical treatments, sports gear, a daily allowance and an endowment fund.

This is the first time that private companies in Nepal have chipped in to sponsor any
contestant in an international sporting event.

But then Sangina is one of the best brand ambassadors in the country by virtue of being the first Nepalese to formally qualify for the Olympics.

Till now, Nepal’s participation in the prestigious games was confined to events like swimming, shooting and athletics, which allow wildcard participants.

Sangina, who grew up watching Bruce Lee movies and played football as well, began to concentrate on taekwondo when she realised there wasn’t enough time for both.

Four years ago, she had set her heart on participating in the 2000 Olympics.

The corporate support she received this time enabled her to head for Korea to train for a month. She leaves for Athens August 15.